Bound To You
by Fictionobsessed98
Summary: During Ste and Harry's breakup. Ste and Harry end up at the same club, Ste witnesses someone chatting up Harry.


Harry sat down at the bar, isolating himself from the permissive crowd, he fixated his eyes on the drink in his hands, ignoring the chaos that surrounded him. He sat wishing he could let go of this weight of guilt he carried with him wherever he went. Ste wasn't in his life anymore and he hadn't fully come to terms with it. He only agreed to come to the club with his friends because he knew he needed to get out the house and he wanted to give his dad a break from his constant rumblings of how his life had no meaning without Ste. Tony would reassure him that it wasn't the end of the world but it was becoming evident that even though Tony remained calm and sincere, even he was pushed to breaking point with Harry's depressive behaviour. Some days Harry would just lay on the sofa, staring into space, his body motionless and when Tony tried to talk to him, he wouldn't respond or give him any acknowledgement. Harry knew he couldn't continue like this and Tony became increasingly worried as the weeks went on, he told him his behaviour wasn't normal. Harry sighed, _maybe it was better if he left Hollyoaks?_ he thought. He glanced down at his phone, noticing he had a missed call from his mum. Harry told her about the problems he'd been having and she'd suggested he should come back to her. He decided it would probably be for the best if he moved back with her and now she was waiting for him but leaving Ste left an unsettling feeling in Harry, _could he really leave him?_

Harry turned around in his seat to scan the room, his friends were dancing carelessly. They'd begged him to go out and then when he did, they'd left him to drown his sorrows at the bar, not that he was complaining, the last thing he wanted to do was dance, but he did want to let go of how he felt. The colourful lights made Harry feel almost dizzy and his vision was becoming hazier, that's when he knew he had been sitting at this bar too long drinking. Harry's eyes soon widened as he noticed Ste sitting alone on one of the chairs at the back, Leela and Teagan gestured for Ste to dance but he just gave them a disarming smile. Harry felt his heart drop.

The piercing sounds of hysterical laughter and fast-paced music faded away as Harry unwillingly kept his eyes fixated on Ste. He felt as if it was just him and Ste in the room, everyone else were merely objects keeping them apart. An awful sinking feeling suddenly came over him, it was as if he was sealed to his seat, unable to reach out to Ste. Seeing him after their breakup was more unbearable than he imagined. Here he was, looking bored, staring blankly at the wall, unaware Harry was looking at him, studying him, wanting to know his thoughts, _did he still think of him?_ Harry finally brought himself to turn away, not wanting to risk Ste noticing him. All it took was for him to see Ste and all his deepest feelings of despair and desire came flooding back. Harry shook his head as if to shake these thoughts out of his head. It would only make things worse and he didn't want to dwell on what he'd lost anymore. He took one last gulp of his drink and motioned to leave.

A deep and husky voice suddenly pulled him back, "can I get you a drink?" the man was tall and broad-shouldered, with a mop of dark hair. He appeared to have a certain charm about him but Harry ignored this as he was eager to leave. He wanted to prevent any awkward exchanges of looks between him and Ste. Harry opened his mouth to speak, to tell him nicely that he wasn't interested but the man pressed on, "You see...I couldn't help but notice why an attractive young guy is sitting on his own on a Saturday night" he said, giving Harry a boyish grin. Harry felt his face heating up, his words made him feel embarrassed and the thought of Ste in the room, who could see them at any moment and get the wrong end of the stick, was unnerving.

Harry gave him a disarming smile, trying to be as polite as possible, "I'm sorry I'm with someone else" he replied, this wasn't entirely true, he wasn't with Ste anymore but his heart still belonged to him and Harry wondered if he could ever move on.

Ste looked about the room, he didn't know what he was searching for but he knew he was staring at the wall too long. His mind was telling him to leave but he knew he would just be depressed at home, at least here he wasn't left alone to the torture of silence where Harry would always intrude on his thoughts. Ste caught sight of a man talking to Harry at the bar. He inhaled sharply, in shock at what he was seeing. _How could Harry do this?_ Leela glanced over at Ste, noticing the pain in his face. Her smile faded as she realised what Ste was looking at. She walked towards him and sat beside him on the table, wrapping one arm around his shoulder, "take no notice Ste, he's not worth it" but Ste ignored her, he didn't want her sympathy. He was fighting back the tears but the more he thought about not letting his emotion show, the more it triggered the tears. Ste stood up abruptly, the anger rapidly rising in him. He wiped his eyes and stormed towards the bar.

Ste ignored harry's pleading eyes looking at him, searching his eyes for something, _was it sympathy?_ Ste was too angry to let Harry make him drop his defence with one look. His eyes glistened with the pain of Harry's betrayal. He could feel Harry's pain resonating from him as well as his own but he turned his back on him to face the man, who appeared stunned, almost offended by Ste's interference. "Don't look at him, don't talk to him and don't touch him" Ste said, his tone coming off bitter and aggressive.

The man's expressionless face had turned into a mischievous grin, Ste's words having no effect on him. "And why should I do that? I don't take orders from anybody" he smirked, moving slightly closer to Ste to intimidate him.

Harry didn't speak, only sat quietly observing this altercation as if he wasn't apart of it. He didn't know whether he should feel embarrassed or ashamed but there was one comforting thought, Ste still cared about him. Ste clenched his fists and looked at the man directly in the eyes, both refusing to stand down. Panic overtook Harry's face and he knew he needed to interfere before things got worse. "Ste listen to me" Harry said, his voice trembling.

Ste just shook his head refusing to listen to Harry, or even pay attention to him. "I won't tell you again" Ste snapped at the man who appeared smug and unphased, Ste's words made Harry shiver. Harry felt like he was Ste's again and his protective behaviour made him feel somewhat turned on, but he knew he was far from being forgiven. Harry stood up and walked in front of Ste so that Ste was looking directly at him, unable to dismiss him, "please this is not worth it Ste, I wasn't flirting with him, you have to believe me, I don't even know him" Harry said pleadingly.

"You know what.. I don't have to deal with this" the man grunted, he moved his eyes to look at Harry and Ste glared at him as if he was the sworn of the devil. "maybe you should keep your boyfriend on a leash" he gave Harry one last look then turned to leave. Harry sighed in relief that Ste didn't end up fighting him. He reached for Ste's arm but he shuddered him off, giving him a look of disappointment. Harry couldn't bear this, he just wanted to feel his love and affection. Sadness clouded Ste's face and Harry wanted to take all his sorrow away, _just tell me what to do to make it up to you?_ he thought, his eyes were flooding with tears now but Ste turned to leave.

"Ste..wait" Harry said, he voice cracking, the tears were now rolling down his cheeks and he had no control over his emotion. But he couldn't let Ste go like this, at least he couldn't let it end like this, _why can't Ste just talk to him?_ at every chance Harry could get he tried to talk to him but he didn't want to know, perhaps it was too painful for him. Harry rushed outside to find Ste. Once outside, the bitter cold and humid air hit him immediately sending him shivers. The sky was already pitch black and yet it wasn't that late, summer was almost over and so was his happiness. He noticed Ste sitting on a bench, his hands over his face. Harry walked towards him and sat next to him, "Ste it's freezing, let's talk somewhere else..please"

Ste didn't acknowledge him and Harry began to become less patient. His stubbornness irritated him and Ste knew it. "If you're just going to ignore me then what's the point?" Harry sighed in frustration, he gave Ste one last pitiful look, he was searching for hope - anything that indicated there was still a chance for them but Ste offered nothing so he slowly walked away. "wait.." Ste called after him, stopping Harry in his tracks. "I miss you Harry" he cried, the street light revealed the tears that glistened in his eyes but despite this, Harry felt a feeling of satisfaction at knowing Ste still wanted him. He sat beside Ste on the bench and looked directly into his eyes, "I miss you too" Harry replied, giving Ste a faint smile, the tears were drying on his cheeks now. "I want a future with you Harry, I want to spend my life with you but I can't help but feel that you will leave me, I always end up alone" Ste said, his hands were shaking from the cold, Harry placed his hands on his, stroking them gently.

"you should have told me this before Ste, before.." Harry paused.

"before what?" Ste said, edging closer to Harry to feel his warmth

Harry exhaled, "before I agreed to move back with my mum" he answered.

Ste's eyes widened, "please stay" he stuttered, gripping Harry's hand tightly as if he could be taken from him at any moment. Harry pulled him close and wrapped both arms around him, Ste looked up at him admiring his features as if this was the last time he was going to see him. Harry looked down at him, his eyes burned with passion, "you confuse me Ste, only a moment ago it seemed you didn't want me anymore"

"because I wanted to get over you" he sniffed, "but I can't" his eyes were welling up again but this time he made no effort in holding back his tears. Harry wiped his tears away, "We've been through so much Ste and you know I'll do anything for you but.." his voice trailed off as he saw the look in Ste's face, he continued "..is it always going to be up and down with me and you"

"I want to be with you" Ste said abruptly, looking at him with desperation

"Are you saying that because you mean it or because you don't want to be alone?" Harry felt the harshness of his words and he didn't want to upset Ste but he knew keeping his feelings bottled up would not solve anything.

Ste inhaled, he looked down at his hands which were still entwined with Harry's. He didn't say a word and kept his eyes fixated on their hands. Harry began to worry, he knew he had hurt Ste because he had a tendency to focus on something else when he spoke like this. Ste finally broke away from him so that he was facing him, "remember when we were having an affair, I felt like I was cheating everybody, especially your dad but I risked it all because I knew even then that I wanted you, it was more than sex. You ignited a fire in me that I thought was long gone" he said softly, "If it was just a fear of being alone then I wouldn't have been with you because you were a risk but I loved every second of it. I can't let you go now" his voice rose as he said those last words meaningfully, tears began to gather in his eyes again.

Harrys eyes lit up with both undeniable love and awe. He felt his heart flutter, it was the way Ste was looking at him that reminded him of how he felt the first time they were this close to each other, looking into each other's eyes and feeling the immediate connection and passion that was so rare. Harry had felt things for other boys when he was in boarding school but he had a way of suppressing it. It was different with Ste, he didn't have to pretend.

Ste studied him, enchanted with his eyes which gleamed with ocean blue, the light seeming to illuminate them. He forgot he was angry with him, all he wanted to do now was hold him, to feel him. It felt like too long since they'd touched and Ste couldn't bear it any longer. He coupled Harry's face with his hands, holding his face gently, he kissed his mouth softly. Harry tilt his head to let Ste deepen their kiss. He felt fireworks, it was just like the first time. He broke away from him again, "I love you Harry, I just hope you know that" he said urgently, he needed Harry to know this.

"I know" Harry smiled reassuringly, "does this mean you'll take me back?"

"How could I resist" Ste chuckled, "but what are you going to tell your mum, can't she come visit you here?"

Harry's face dropped, "No she'll make up an excuse that she's too busy. I think she wanted me to move back in with her because she felt sorry for me not because she wanted me" he sighed, "but I have you and that's enough" he said, giving Ste a faint smile.

Ste was curious as to why Harry seemed to talk about his mother coldly. Questions circled his head, _did they not get on?_ Harry had told him a lot about his past - his time at boarding school, some childhood memories and he even told him about how he felt not having his dad in his childhood but he knew Harry was leaving out details. Nonetheless, he knew Harry - he knew his habits, his likes and dislikes, even his body language. And he loved him. Ste smiled back, wondering how he got so lucky, Harry was his. He was determined not to screw this up, "come on, let's go home" he grinned, offering Harry his hand.


End file.
